Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan yesterday said he will lead an all-party delegation from the state to Delhi to canvass the need for an urgent ban on the highly dangerous pesticide endosulphan in the country.
Talking to reporters after a review meeting in Thiruvananthapuram to discuss various schemes for endosulphan victims in Kasargode district, Achuthanandan said an all-party team will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other federal leaders in this regard. "We have decided to set up an endosulphan cell in the Secretariat here. A rehabilitation package will be there for the victims which includes providing houses for the homeless and even a pension scheme," he said.
Moratorium on loans
"The loans taken by the victims will also come under a moratorium scheme," he added.
The Kerala government yesterday announced a slew of relief measures, including improved medical aid and rations, to people who had suffered ill-effects of the pesticide in Kasargode and Idukki districts. The short-term relief package was announced by Achuthanandan at a meeting with representatives from the affected areas and senior officials.
The use of the pesticide at estates owned by the state-owned Plantation Corporation in Kasargode began in the early 1970s and continued until 2001. By then the damage was done.
Incidence of children born with neurobehavioural disorders, congenital disabilities and other abnormalities have been reported in around a dozen local body jurisdictions of Kasargode.
While about 500 deaths have been officially acknowledged since 1995 as a direct consequence of the pesticide use, unofficial estimates put the number of dead since the late 1970s at around 4,000.
The use of the pesticide was banned in Kerala in 2001 when A.K. Antony was chief minister.
The issue last month made headlines after Achuthanandan lashed out at the union minister of state for agriculture, K.V. Thomas, who played down the harmful effects of endosulphan on humans while speaking at a public function. The remarks sparked a huge public outcry in Kerala with even the top brass of the opposition Congress party in the state joining in.
After the backlash, Thomas said he was of the opinion that the pesticide should be banned.